The present invention relates to the art of vehicle security devices of the type attachable to a vehicle steering wheel to limit rotation thereof and, more particularly, to a tethered holder for limiting displacement of the security device from a storage area in the vehicle during periods of non-use of the security device.
The present invention finds particular utility in connection with storage of a vehicle steering wheel lock bar of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,127 to Johnson and, accordingly, will be discussed and described herein in detail in conjunction with such a lock bar structure. At the same time, however, it will be appreciated that the invention is applicable to vehicle steering wheel lock bars structured other than that disclosed in the aforementioned patent and to other anti-rotation devices attachable to the vehicle steering wheel to limit or preclude rotation thereof.
It is of course well known to provide vehicles with anti-theft security devices attachable to the vehicle steering wheel to limit rotation of the steering wheel when the vehicle is parked. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,127 to Johnson which is assigned to the same assignee as the present application and the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. The device disclosed in the Johnson patent is a steering wheel lock bar characterized by a pair of oppositely directed hooks engagable with diametrically opposite sides of a steering wheel. One of the hooks is on an elongated rod member adapted to move in telescopic fashion relative to a tubular body member carrying the other hook and extending outwardly beyond the periphery of the steering wheel to engage a part of the vehicle and preclude complete rotation of the steering wheel when the lock bar is mounted thereon. When the lock bar is removed from the steering wheel, the rod member is displaced to a storage position within the body member and in which the oppositely directed hooks are more closely spaced than when the lock bar is mounted on a steering wheel.
When the component parts of the lock bar are in the storage position thereof, the lock bar is suitably stored in the vehicle and, for ready access, is generally loosely stored in the driver's compartment and, for example, on the floor of the vehicle underneath or laterally adjacent the driver's or passenger's seat. Such loose storage of a steering wheel lock bar is potentially dangerous to the driver and/or passengers in the vehicle in the event of sudden stopping of the vehicle and, especially, when such sudden stopping is the result of head-on impacting of the vehicle with another vehicle or object. In this respect, such sudden stopping results in the potential for the lock bar to become a projectile within the vehicle endangering the driver and/or passengers.